Gun sight



May 22, 1951 H. N. BECKERMAN GUN SIGHT Filed Feb. 8, 1946 Patented May22, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE (Granted under the act of March 3,1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) 4 Claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or forthe Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me ofany royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a gun sight, more particularly to a sight fora shoulder weapon.

The usual type of sighting equipment provided on a firearm generallycomprises a blade or bead front sight secured to the barrel near themuzzle thereof and an aperture or buck horn rear sight secured to thereceiver or breech end of the barrel. Alignment of the front sight withthe rear sight provides a means for alignment of the gun with thetarget. However, due to the lack of precise centering means, the skillof the operator is called on for final alignment, hence the widedivergence between the ability of various operators to place theirshots.

It is therefore the purpose of this invention to provide an improvedmeans for aligning the eye of the observer with the sight of a gun toaccurately determine the point of impact of a missile ejected therefrom,whereby a relatively inexperienced operator will be enabled to place hisshots in a much more accurate manner than has heretofore been possible.

The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects andadvantages thereof will clearly appear from a description of a preferredembodiment as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a fragmentary side elevational view of a firearm showing thesight mounted thereon.

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the sight housing showing thejuxtaposition of the colored sectors when the eye is placed in thecorrect sighting position relative to the sight.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the sight housing shown partly inlongitudinal section illustrating the transparent plastic cylindercontained therein.

Fig. 4 is a rear end view of the left end of the cylinder shown in Fig.3.

Fig. 5 is an end view of the right end of the cylinder shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is an end view of housing In shown in Fig. 3 illustrating oneposition of the various sectors when the eye is not in the correctsighting position relative to the sight.

Fig. 7 is a front elevational view of a modification utilized for adeflection type sight.

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a modification of the sight illustrated in Fig. 3.

; tinted areas having sharply defined edges.

Fig. 10 is still another modification.

Fig. 11 illustrates a form of marking which may be substituted for thetinted areas utilized in the above described figures.

The invention consists of a tubular housing IQ ac'justably mountedsubstantially parallel to the bore of a firearm barrel and havingconventional azimuth and elevational adjustments (not shown) relative tosuch barrel. A sighting element comprising a cylinder l5 preferably ofhigh visual transparency, and formed of a colorless, plastic material issecured within the tubular housing Ill with the rear end H and front end[2 of the housing projecting a substantial distance beyond the plasticcylinder l5 for the double purpose of protecting the plastic cylinderfrom injury and excluding extraneous light.

The rearward face l6 and the forward face I! are perpendicular to theaxis of the plastic cylinder l5, hence to the axis of the housing andparallel to each other. On the rearward face I6, two diametricallyopposite, sector-like, equal areas I8 and 19 respectively, centered inthe uper left and the lower right quadrants, are tinted red or any othersuitable readily visible color. On the forward face ll, complementaryareas 2| and 22 in the upper right and lower left quadrants aresimilarly tinted. All of these areas l8, l9, 2| and 22 are displacedfrom each other when correctly sighted by equally spaced intersectingvertical and horizontal diametrical bands 25 and 28 respectively. Thetinting is of high transparency so that it does not ap reciably diminishvisibility when looking through the cylinder, all of the The edges ofthe tinted areas are thus arranged so that only when the eye of theobserver is in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the cylinder,which is the correct sighting position, the edges of the tinted areas [8and [9 on the rear of cylinder I5 and areas 2! and 22 on the front facethereof appear to be in alignment as shown in Fig. 2, the apparentspaces between the tinted areas forming perpendicularly crossed verticaland horizontal colorless bands 25 and 26 respectively, of equal width,the intersection of the center lines of the bands coinciding with thelongitudinal axis of cylinder I5 and housing M.

This is a situation to which the eye auto matically responds with a highdegree of precision. Any deviation from alignment of the edges of therear and front tinted areas be comes strikingly apparent even thoughthese edges are outside the direct line of vision, hence the observercan concentrate on aligning the center of the target with theintersection of the middle of the bands, the alignment of the edges asshown by the equalizing of the bands being instinctively andsemi-automatically accomplished with a minimum of conscious effort.

This situation is shown in Fig. 6, which strikingly illustrates theunbalanced optical image existing when the eye is misaligned with thesight.

Because of the inherently high degree of accuracy in aligning the eyewith the sight herein dscribed, it is possible to use a much shortersighting distance than is possible with conventional peep or groovesights and still obtain a superior placement of shots.

The use of color tinting is no handicap to color-blind people becausethe identity of the shade is of no importance, a reasonably deep tintingbeing readily observable by color-blind persons.

Although a light red is indicated in the preferred embodiment, any othershade that would not blend with the target or target background would beequally satisfactory and may be used. The bands and 26 may of course beof a color contrasting to that of the sectors rather than colorless asdescribed.

A modification of the above described invention is illustrated in Figs.'7 and 8. This modification is adapted for deflection-shooting andconsists of a relatively thick plate 30 of transparent plastic materialhaving parallel faces perpendicular to the axis of the gun (not shown)when conventionally mounted thereto. Concentric spaced-apart zones 3|,32, 33, and 34 are provided on such plate and each zone except theinnermost is divided into twelve equal sectors by radially disposedclearance spaces (36 to 41 inclusive, Fig. '7). Each zone is tinted adifferent color, alternate zones being impressed on opposite sides ofthe plastic plate 30. The axial center of innermost zone 34 andtherefore of plate 30 coincides with a line perpendicular to the facesof the plate and parallel to the axis of the gun barrel (not shown).Hence, When the eye is precisely aligned with the axial center of plate30 and is maintained at the usual sighting distance rearwardlytherefrom, the concentric clearance spaces formed between each tintedzone as well as the radial clearance spaces formed between each tintedsector will appear to be of equal width, the tinted areas thus forming asymmetric pattern. This modification gives a wide angle field which isnecessary for successful deflection-shooting and combines the improvedsighting characteristics with the wide field necessary for sighting on amoving target.

The colors of the various zones should be progressively lighter towardthe outer edge to encourage (psychologically) full deflection allowance.

Another advantage of both these applications of this type of sight isthat pain caused by sharp images focused on the observers retina forlong periods of time is eliminated. A color-reversal fatigue effectfollows prolonged use but recovery is quick and there appears to be nofurther effect.

It is to be understood that plainly visible markings including, forexample, such pattern as the outlines of either of the types of tintedareas heretofore described and as shown in Fig. 11 could be substitutedfor tinting if so desired. Such outlines are readily produced byscribing or engraving on the end surfaces of the sighting element.

It is also to be understood that two disks 50 of transparent material asshown in Fig. 9 may be substituted for the cylinder, the disks beingdisposed in spaced relationship so as to correspond to the ends of thecylinder, thereby eliminating the bulk of the plastic material.

For some applications, a pattern preferably of T-shape in two parts asshown in Fig. 10 and conforming to the above described relationship canbe used. Such pattern is likewise engraved on the end surfaces of thesighting element. Another application for a sight of this type would bein connection with a camera.

It is therefore apparent that this invention provides a device forfacilitating the precise visual alignment of the eye with the gun sightsand the gun sights with the center of a target whereby the operator isenabled to substantially improve the accuracy of his shooting.

I claim:

1. An aiming device comprising in combination, a transparent sightingelement having spaced apart forwardly and rearwardly facing surfaces,each surface having thereon a part of a symmetrical transparent coloredpattern, said parts being arranged so that when viewed from a positionrearwardly of said device and in exact alignment with the center of saidsymmetrical pattern at the usual sighting distance rearwardly therefrom,said parts together apparently form a single concentric coloredtransparent pattern separated by intersecting colorless bands.

2. A sighting device for use with a firearm having a barrel to determinethe point of impact of a missile ejected therefrom comprising, atransparent cylinder adjustably mounted on the firearm with its axissubstantially parallel to the barrel, the ends of said cylinder beingperpendicular to its axis, each end of said cylinder having tinted areasthereon forming parts of a symmetrical design, said tinted areas beingconstructed and arranged so that only when viewed from a sightingposition in exact alignment with the axis of said cylinder at the usualsighting distance rearwardly therefrom, said tinted areas appear to bein both vertically and horizontally symmetrical relationship.

3. A sighting device for use with a firearm having a barrel to determinethe point of impact of a missile ejected therefrom comprising, a tubularhousing adjustably mounted on the firearm with its axis substantiallyparallel to the barrel, a transparent cylinder secured within saidhousing in coaxial relation therewith, the ends of said cylinder beingdisposed perpendicularly to the axis of the housing, each end of saidcylinder having identical tinted areas thereon forming parts of asymmetrical design, each of said tinted areas being generally sectorshaped, said tinted areas being constructed and arranged so that onlywhen viewed from a usual sighting position exactly in line with the axisof said housing at the usual sighting distance rearwardly therefrom,said tinted areas appear to be in both vertically and horizontallysymmetrical relationship there- StAHUH ROOM angles to the longitudinalaxis of the gun when REFERENCES CITED mounted thereto and plurality ofSpaced'apart' The following references are of record in the concentric,ring-like, transparently tinted zones, me of this patent: each of adifferent color and alternately disposed on said front and rear faces ofsaid plate, said 5 UNITED STATES NT zones with the exception of theinnermost zone being intersected by a plurality of radially disgi gig fzg g posed clearance spaces, the tinted areas thus 1048876 Raedel 1912formed being constructed and arranged to a form 2420252 Land 6 1947 asymmetrical pattern wherein the concentric 10 2430469 Kame; 1947colorless spaces between said zones and the radially disposed clearancespaces are all of equal FOREIGN PATENTS width only when viewed from asighting position Number Country Date rearwardly of said plate and inalignment with 3 5 Switzerland Jan. 3, 1933 the axi l ce r thereof- 15570,550 Great Britain July 12, 1945 HARRY N. BECKERMAN.

